Dumb Luck

His specialty is the doofus who gets the girl. On Parks and Recreation? Aubrey Plaza. In his new movie, The Five-Year Engagement? Alison Brie. In real life? Anna Faris. We asked Chris Pratt for his secret, and he actually told us. Doofus

Chris Pratt's character on Parks and Recreation, the pea-brained Andy, wasn't supposed to stick around long. But Pratt played him with such wide-eyed, open-hearted glee that he became a regular. He sneaks up on you again in the big-screen comedy The Five-Year Engagement, as Jason Segel's spazzy sidekick, Alex, who essentially steals the movie. You might not recognize the former Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. waiter in his next, shockingly buff incarnation, as a soldier in Kathryn Bigelow's untitled film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Chris Pratt, action hero? That's no joke.

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GQ: This is a transition moment for you, from Parks and Recreation and Five-Year Engagement to Moneyball. Now you're heading into the new Kathryn Bigelow movie. How does it feel?

Chris Pratt: It feels great. I'm not sure it feels a whole lot different than maybe the last ten years have felt, you know? Because I feel like the effort and the work is sort of the same. I'm just kind of plugging away, and just more things are lighting up. To go to the Oscars for Moneyball—that was pretty amazing. And to be able to go work with Kathryn Bigelow—that's going to be pretty sweet. Hopefully I don't have to go back to being a waiter. That's still my main goal.

Chris Pratt: They're like the worst nightmare you can have. You're totally in the weeds. You have like six tables. You forgot to put the order in. You're sweating, and you wake up and "Oh, my God. I'm so glad."

GQ: Did any of that come back to you while you were working in a restaurant on the set of Five-Year Engagement in the kitchen and falling for Alison Brie?

Chris Pratt: No. I had no experience in the back of the kitchen, so there wasn't any of that stress coming back. But it was fun. And I think it's going to be a really great thing for Alison because her character is just fucking bonkers, man.

GQ: Do you see any similarities between Alex in Five-Year Engagement and Andy on Parks & Recreation? I did.

Chris Pratt: Well, yeah. I see the similarities. I don't know what it is, but typically when someone's obnoxious, they're not really likable. And Alex and Andy are obnoxious. With Andy on Parks and Recreation and even Bright on Everwood is this: That guy who was probably a douche in high school, who may have peaked in high school, what happens to that guy? All three of these characters are guys who probably have their best days behind them. But, with that comes a sense of sort of a learned humility. What makes the characters endearing may be that they're forced to realize that they're not as badass as they used to be. And then if you play the character who's learned that lesson, it's really hard to dislike that person. Hopefully people like them.

GQ: All three seem so grateful when things work out. When Alison Brie does sleep with Alex, he's just so psyched: grinning from ear-to-ear. And somehow that's really endearing.

Chris Pratt: Yeah, both Andy and Alex are a little bit chubby and schlubby, you know? There's something nice about that. If Alex had super-ripped abs and came out in the morning and was like, "Yeah. I screwed your sister," you'd be like, "Gross. Ewww. I don't like that guy." But because it's like a major victory for him to have sex with anybody, you're onboard.

GQ: The audience roots for your guys to get laid and be successful, whether it's Parks and Recreation, Five-Year Engagement, even Moneyball. And then things click: You end up with Aubrey Plaza, you end up with Alison Brie. They're kind of secret studs in a way.

**Chris Pratt: **I don't know why the characters I'm playing could possible end up with these people. I don't even know how I ended up with the woman that I'm with!

GQ: Glad you said it. You're cool—but Anna Faris?

Chris Pratt: Dude, totally. I married way out of my pay grade. I have no idea how that happened. She's so goddamn funny and so good. She is a legit comedy powerhouse. But I'm not going to question it too much. I don't know what it is, man. I guess chicks dig love handles or something.

Chris Pratt: I don't have any delusions. I don't think I would make it through Navy SEAL training. Those guys are incredible, amazing physical specimens, but you have to kind of try to at least look like you could go through that. You're not going to see some weird Andy pratfalls in the middle of the Osama bin Laden raid where I fall down and have pie on my face. I think as long as you're being truthful in whatever role you're playing, people will buy it. There comes a point where an actor can pick whatever movie they want to be in. I don't think I'm at that point yet. I'm still fighting really hard to get any role I get. If it's comedy, I go for the laughs. And if it's drama, I try to tell the truth, and try to play the real stakes of whatever scenario the character's in. It's weird because there are two versions of what I'm doing. One is what I've seen myself doing every day for the past ten years, and the other one is what people will recognize from the work. People can say, "You're making this transition into doing dramatic roles," but I've been working hard at dramatic roles for a really long time. I just haven't gotten any of them!

GQ: I wouldn't have guessed that you were such a serious hunter, such an athlete. Did Bigelow?

**Chris Pratt: **I certainly didn't go out of my way to hide it. I was like, "It's probably good for her to know that I like to kill shit." I think like if you'd asked me or any of my family or friends as a kid, and said "Hey, Chris is going to be an actor when he grows up. What's he going to do? He's going to play a Navy SEAL, or he's going to play a shoeshine guy who falls down on rollerblades?" I think most people would probably pick the Navy SEAL. Actually, they probably would say, "No, Chris isn't going to be an actor. He's going to be in the armed forces." I went camping every summer. And I went bird hunting, deer hunting as a kid, and just got out in the woods. And I drank beer with my old man and my older brother and we became men out in the woods. That's how we identified ourselves. And I still very much enjoy it, you know?

GQ: Can you tell me something about the Bin Laden film?

Chris Pratt: I'm not supposed to talk too much about it, but I think it's safe to say that I'll be playing a Navy SEAL. And the movie focuses on the ten-year hunt to get Osama Bin Laden. But I can say this: I'm not an actual seal. I am a human.

**GQ: Your characters never give up until they get the girl. **

Chris Pratt: Yeah, you need the perfect mix of confidence and ignorance. So you think you're enough, and you don't realize that you're not.

GQ: You always get the girl. Got any sage romantic advice?

**Chris Pratt: **For all three—myself, Alex, and Andy—it's like, drop the games. Just be comfortable with who you are. The truth is that any amount of trickery or wearing cool shirts with rad designs or using pick-up lines, or any of this bullshit like trying to neg girls, isn't going to matter. It won't pay off when she realizes that you're full of shit.

Girls like that quiet confidence. And not in a way like "I'm a dick and I don't care." Just: "Hey, I'm comfortable with who I am." You want to be with a girl who likes you for you. Just be yourself and forget all of the stuff you read in GQ magazine.

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